The Houston Texans travel to Indianapolis to face the Colts in the 2023 season-ending rematch. Indianapolis lost to Houston last year, with a dropped pass by Tyler Goodson on a critical fourth and one. Unlike the previous meeting, Anthony Richardson will be suiting up for his 17th career quarterback start (High School, College & NFL). CJ Stroud and Will Anderson Jr. look to build off their rookie of the year seasons from last, with help from key acquisitions; Stefon Diggs & Danielle Hunter. This matchup will be the second time in three years that the Texans and Colts open the season against each other. Houston has a lot of hype and goals to accomplish this year, this game will be a tone-setter this season. Three keys are crucial for the Texans to bring the W back to Houston!
- STOPPING JONATHAN TAYLOR.
In past seasons, Jonathan Taylor would lick his chops whenever the Texans were seen on the schedule. Taylor’s stats against Houston all-time are 6 games with 811 rushing yards, 6.0 yards per carry& finishing of with 7 rushing touchdowns. Texans in the past, did not have an answer when it came to Taylor. Last season, things seemed to change as the Texan’s run defense was ranked 8th in the NFL. That did not stop Taylor in the last game of the season and Taylor’s first matchup against Demeco Ryan’s Houston Texans. Jonathan Taylor racked up 188 yards, 6.3 yards per carry, and 1 touchdown, all in 30 carries. The main key to winning against the Colts is to stop the rushing attack led by Taylor. This might be difficult with the Texans’ promising linebacker Christian Harris out on injury reserved. Even with that setback, Texans can still contain the rushers by setting the edge with Will Anderson Jr. & Danielle Hunter. Setting the edge will give Mike linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair to identify the run and enclose the gap quickly. Defensive tackles Folorunso Fatukasi and Khalil Davis are factors in closing the block gaps and shutting down the rushing game.
2. ESTABLISH A RUN GAME.
In 2023, Houston’s running game started off rough with Dameon Pierce not being able to learn the zone blocking quickly and not giving Devin Singletary enough carries in the beginning. Texans rushing attack ended the 2023 season being ranked 23rd in the NFL. General Manager Nick Caserio knew the running game needed to be improved in the 2024 off-season. The Houston Texans tried to add hot commodity Saquon Barkley but inevitably lost the bidding war to the Philadelphia Eagles. Running backs were flying off the shelf in free agency quickly, leaving Nick Caserio to put on his genius cap and go to work. Caserio traded for running back Joe Mixon from the Cincinnati Bengals, bolstering the offense even more. Mixon rushed for over 1K yards in 2 of his last three seasons with the Bengals. Joe Mixon has been a pivotal running back in the NFL behind bad rushing protection in Cincinnati. Houston having the 18th overall rushing offensive line already gives Mixon a better chance than he ever had with the Bengals. Texans need to relieve stress off of CJ Stroud, what better way than to give the rock to Mixon. To keep the Colts offense off the field, the Texans need to eat the clock by running the ball consistently.
3. CONTAIN ANTHONY RICHARDSON
Even though this is Anthony Richardson’s 17 career start, the athletic ability Richardson contains is ridiculously stupid. As the sample size of Richardson’s gameplay is small, Anthony showed promise in both the passing and running game. The Colt’s offensive line also helps Richardson’s gameplay. If the Texan’s secondary does contain the Colts’ receivers, Richardson’s feet cause a problem to take off and extend the play. With Christian Harris missing at least 4 weeks, spying on Anthony Richardson will be hard for the Texans. Houston has to have the defensive tackles fill the gaps and let the edge get set quickly to allow the pass rush to reach the backfield quickly. Jimmie Ward and Jalen Pitre should be used to contain Richardson as well.
If the Texans achieve all three keys, Houston will walk away with the victory. After today’s game be sure to check out the Texans Fan Battle podcast as they recap the game!
